The Democratic front-runner, who's taken a beating in the polls lately and found herself overshadowed by the queen of daytime TV Saturday, turned to her 88-year-old mother, Dorothy Rodham, her daughter, Chelsea, and a phalanx of other notable women to beat back the Oprah assault on her female voter base.

Advertisement

"We're getting close to the caucuses," Clinton told 100 people gathered in a cold airplane hangar just four weeks before Iowans choose White House nominees on Jan. 3. "I always think it's better to go to the caucuses with a buddy. Today, I've got some buddies with me."

The low-key, family-focused event in rural, Republican Madison County seemed designed to contrast with the Oprah circus, and the decision to put the normally private relatives front and center showed how seriously the campaign takes the threat from the wildly influential Oprah.

However, Clinton said the mom-daughter tandem was just a coincidence of good timing between her elderly mother's and her daughter's schedules, not a counter to Oprah. "It worked out that it was going to be today, and I'm thrilled to have them with me."

The three-generation display is part of an effort that includes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, and comes as polls have found Obama outperforming Clinton in this first-in-the-nation caucus state, including with women.

Clinton supporters and observers say it's part of a nuts-and-bolts strategy to mobilize caucusgoers that could be much more important than any endorsement.

"I don't think one-tenth of 1% of people will change their minds because of Oprah," said Clinton backer and ex-Iowa Attorney General Bonnie Campbell, before amending, "Well, maybe slightly more, but not much."

Campbell spent the morning organizing with AFSCME union boss Gerald McEntee and Mikulski. "You just get one person and one person and one person, and that's what makes the difference," she said.

University of Missouri political scientist Peverill Squire agreed the nitty-gritty matters in Iowa. "I don't think Oprah is terribly important to Clinton's efforts," he said. "Hillary will rise or fall on the basis of her own campaigning."

Campbell said not to worry about poll numbers: She's seen Iowans smitten with plenty of "outsider" candidates like Obama before, including Howard Dean in 2004. "Iowans always flirt with those people, but they don't date 'em, and they don't marry 'em," said Campbell. "This year that's Obama, and he's got his 30 seconds."